Obamacare Enrollment Hits 7.04 Million On Final Day

More than 7 million people have chosen health plans through the insurance exchanges created by Obamacare, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed at Tuesday’s briefing.

The exact total of 7.041 million people is slightly higher than the Congressional Budget Office’s initial estimate that 7 million would sign up during the six-month enrollment period.

“Today we can say definitively that at midnight last night, I think it’s fair to say we passed everyone’s expectations,” Carney said during the briefing.

The number Carney cited is likely to grow even larger. According to White House officials, it does not include individuals who enrolled on March 31 through state exchanges — a number that is likely to be in the tens of thousands, if not higher. It also does not include those individuals who attempted to purchase health coverage but encountered technical difficulties and could not finish the process by the enrollment deadline. It’s unclear how many people fall under that category, but the administration has established what is, in essence, an honor system for people to say that they began their applications and were unable to finish them, so the number could ultimately be high as well.